You Fax I Win!

We work hard on our prospecting, listing and sales presentations but how much time do we invest on our discovery and negotiating skills.  Just ask a few questions and sometimes the clients or their agents can’t wait to tell everything they know about their motivation.  On competing offers it’s always much easier to win when you have the other agent(s) just fax or email in their offers and you are sitting there at their kitchen table building rappore for your clients offer with the sellers and the listing agent and plead on behalf of my buyers .  On hot properties with multiple offers, I always had my buyers out in the car or in the conference room so we could deal with a counter on the spot and end the negotiating.  Of course with laptops, ipads and our technology we are using Skype, sign my pad and esignatures to get the job done on the spot.

Ok I am going back a lot of years with this story but honestly folks, outside of technology, the people side of the business has not changed.  To be a powerful negotiator it pays to be observant when listing, pricing, showing, writing offers and getting them to closing. 

One instance in particular stands out.  It was a cute, under priced property listed for a quick sale. As I set the appointment to present my offer, I knew I had the “silver bullet” included in my offer and my negotiations that I was sure the other agent(s) had never even thought of asking her buyer the same question!

The owner was an elderly lady moving into a care center. Residing with her were two calico cats.  The mama and the daughter kitty had been her life.  In touring her home, it was apparent how she felt.  The kitchen and the bedroom had food and water bowls and there were cat beds and toys throughout the home. While my buyer, a young man who had just turned 21 and buying his first house, looked around I casually asked her “what is happening with the cats?  Are you taking them?”  Tears welled up and she said they couldn’t go with her and she didn’t know what she was going to do. They had grown up in the house and it was the only home they had ever known.

Well when my buyer and I sat down to write the offer I asked him how he felt about cats?  Good news, he wasn’t allergic and liked cats fine.  We wrote into the offer that the cats would remain with him when he bought the house.  Then he wrote her a nice note about how thrilled he was to be moving into a home that already had a “ready-made family” and if she needed to move before closing, he would come over every day after work and feed the cats until he could move in.    

There were 3 offers and mine was price wise in the middle but guess who’s offer was accepted.  We spend so much time talking about price that sometimes we overlook the fact that ‘terms’ can seal the deal.

Granted you aren’t often going to get this kind of slam dunk opportunity so it’s important you work on your skills.  I often tell my agents that anytime I can meet face to face I increase my ability to win for my client by at least 80%.  A fax machine cannot out negotiate a good agent.  Here are some thoughts on being a good negotiator.

Don’t leave the ball in your court unreturned.  In other words try always to get your client to counter back.  Even if it’s full price – no concessions.  If that is your client’s wishes, convey them in writing in a counter to the other side. 

Who has ever heard “This is our best offer” or “This is our bottom line,” and then they continued to negotiate?  No one knows what their best offer or bottom line is until they’ve either signed an agreement, or rejected one. When the other agent presents a counter-offer to you and tells you “this is the best we can do,”  that is fine.  It’s either an accept or counter situation.   More often than not,  the negotiation will continue beyond the previously stated “best” or “bottom.”

When negotiations get hot and heavy and deadlines allow withdraw.  Dead silence from your side. Don’t tell the other agent you’re “thinking about it” or going to “sleep on it,” just stop all communication until the next day. Very unsettling to the other side, and keeps your client from getting carried away by the emotion of the negotiation.  This tactic also helps your client from feeling they were pressured.  Slow it up and think it out, then make your next move. 

My personal opinion was to never asked a buyer or seller for their bottom line or highest-and-best. I learned when you force them to commit to a figure and they might be uncomfortable down the road if they’re willing to go higher or lower. A side benefit to this strategy is that you won’t be accused of spilling the beans to the other side if, by chance, the offer or counter comes in at the exact figure they shared with you. If a buyer or seller tells you what their highest-and-best or bottom line is, act as if you didn’t hear them.  

What I did always ask when  price was being negotiated was “how will you feel if you offer this price and you don’t get the house?” or to a seller “How will you feel if you counter the buyer with this price and they walk away?”  Asking that question usually opened up some more dialogue and more times than not, the buyer or seller rethought their counter and made an adjustment.  I always ended the negotiations with a summary of our offer and the “how will you feel if” question. 

Quit verbalizing your offers and refuse to play that game.  Get everything in writing – no oral negotiating. When agreements are reached over the phone or even in emails, something always comes up when it’s time to put the agreement on paper, creating unnecessary drama. It’s easy enough today to just “write it up,” and keeps everyone on the same page, so to speak.  I don’t care what they ‘say’ they will do, put it on paper so I can agree, counter or reject. 

When negotiating always remember whom you represent.  If you aren’t writing the mortgage checks then don’t say “I won’t allow my seller to do this or that.”  Same goes for buyers.  If you aren’t taking title, you are only the messenger and advisor, not the decision maker.  I absolutely cringe when I hear agents say “Well I would never!”  What you should be saying is my experience has not been great with contingent offers but put in writing, the seller is happy to see what your buyer have to offer and we will go from there.   You know maybe you wouldn’t want a contingent offer but maybe your client would!  Every transaction, every seller, every buyer, every agent, every loan officer, every title company are all different.  Keeping this in mind, helps you be a stronger negotiator and not make an idiot out of yourself with your own client or the other agents!

Here are some other tips to consider:

• Make the offer price/counter price “attractive” to the other side by rounding up or down such as $279,900 versus $280,000 or by offering a home warranty or some other value added terms, like a longer or shorter closing date, a few extra days to from closing to possession at no cost, a few $ toward the buyers closing costs.   
• When countering, use positive statements when possible – It sounds silly but instead of saying “seller will not spray for termites” say “Buyer to pay for termite remedy at their election.”
• Realize that your client can say no – and that the other side sometimes fully expects them to.  Again, counter the ‘no’ with an option though.
• Set expectations with your clients before you get to the offer stage (e.g. market conditions, communication, etc.) When you first meet a client, it’s going to be to your advantage and theirs to thoroughly discuss how you work and what your expectations of them are and what they can and CAN’T expect from you.  The Quality Service Guarantee is a perfect way to end the meeting.
• Never get between the question and the answer.  Self explanatory I hope.
• Negotiate delayed possession for staged and owner-occupied properties, in case the loan falls apart at the last minute or the seller needs some time to get their money in hand, get moved and GET the property cleaned properly.  You can’t expect a seller to have no money and be stressed over when it is going to come, moving  their stuff  out the back door while the buyer is moving in the front door (so to speak) and expect the house to be clean, nail holes filled and all perfect for the new buyer. As part of the negotiations give the seller 2 days after recording to move and get the house clean..and spell those expectations out to them as you present the offer.  Of course if the house is vacant or the seller is already moving, no worries but do write into the offer the buyer reserves the right to do a walk through after signing and prior to recording to make sure everything is the way it’s supposed to be.  If the seller is remaining more than 2 days after close, use the seller to remain in possession form and use a holdback, even if it’s only $1,000 or so. 
• Win-win isn’t always possible but you can try to give the other side (other agent even) an opportunity to save face when negotiating.  If the other agents screws up on the sales agreement, write a counter offer fixing it.  I remember when one of my new agents turned in one of the first offers they had written.. a rejected offer that the listing agent had used a black felt pen to write in bold letters rejected across the offer. That was uncalled for.  Several years later my agent, now seasoned and doing quite well remarked how they never forgot how that agent made them feel and they avoided showing their listings ever since.  Even if there is no way the deal will get done, there is always another day and another house or client and you might just be sitting at the same table again.  Don’t be the agent from hell that has temper tantrums, is rude or is so controlling that no one wants to work with you.   It’s a small world we live in.

When working with buyers it’s always powerful to have your loan officer or theirs present at part of our initial sit down meeting. While they are going over financing you can be running potential properties to look at and getting your buyers packet ready to give them. The lender can summarize for you what the buyers qualifications are and you all can discuss any concerns with appraisals or financing. I never, and I repeat never had a transaction with a buyer and their lender that I hadn’t met their loan officer face to face prior to writing the offer. If they weren’t using my preferred lender, then my goal was to form a bond with their lender. After meeting them and talking expectations from their point and from mine, I always had a good working relationship with them. I can also tell you as a result of my professionalism they often sent me referrals as well. Only once did I have to go sit in a lender’s lobby because he wasn’t returning my calls.

Have a fun, safe and prosperous Labor Day weekend and will see everyone at our next sales meeting on September 13 when Terri Wilson will lead a discussion on red flags and what to be aware of when selling property with self contained sewage systems, wells, bare land, acreages, farms and ranches.

Also on September 14th at 10:30-noon at Standard TV & Appliance you are invited to hear from a panel of Six of your peers on “LISTED TO SOLD – HOW TO SELL THOSE LISTINGS YOUR WORK SO HARD TO GET!” &  MC Kim Dittler.

RSVP to reserve your seat:    broach@prunw.com or kim@kimdittlerrealestate.com

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Generating Offers

Price for location. Price for Style of home. Price for amenities. Price for defects.  Basically you must be hard nosed on your cma and come to your conclusions on price without the sellers influence.  Then you and the seller must review the cma and reach the same conclusion.  Do you know your market area statistics and buyer demographics. Who would be the buyer for the home and how can you find them?  What type of property is selling around your listing..single family, condo, attached, low-end, mid range, upper end, anything?  

If the home is being shown how does it stack up to the competition?  Size, style, smell and visual appeal?  The house needs to be very clean, in good condition and free from major defects. If you want to get several offers on a property at market value, just saying its priced right isn’t enough.  The home needs to stand out as the clear quality leader in the neighborhood.  Putting your home on the market is like entering a beauty contest.  It may be a professional stager can help you win.

There seems to be a trend that if the house is vacant, staging is very important to motivate buyers to write offers nowadays. 

If they aren’t looking, maybe your photos are the cause.  People shop on-line nowadays. Many times they decide what they will look at based on what they see on the internet.   If your photos are not great, you won’t get the traffic you need in order to get more than one offer Taking quality photographs of your beautifully staged home will also attract attention and motivate buyers to take a closer look. It used to be people didn’t know about a busy street until they were at the property and sellers hoped to bowl them over the wonderful interior so they would overlook the street noise. Today all listing have mapping and aerial shots.  They see the neighborhood and property on the map.  I hear buyers and agents say all the time, I knew “something” had to be wrong for the house to be priced so low in that neighborhood.  The key is to price it so attractive that buyers are willing to overlook some noise if everything else works for them.

Landscaping is important too. A new front yard that looks like a carpet might cost $800 to install, but green grass and some color in the beds or in baskets will provoke a strong response from buyers. I have seen this happen on a couple of listings recently. Freshly trimmed shrubs , clean walkway and driveway can make a difference.

What about that home where it’s got deferred maintenance and the seller isn’t interested or can’t put money into it to sell.  Yes, you can get multiple offers on beat up houses too… by offering them at prices that are attractive to investors.  Keep in mind whatever you think it will cost to do an improvement or repair, the buyer is going to add at least another 15% to that number if they have to be the one to do it.   Real estate investors are always looking for properties that have good profit potential, and when a home is offered for sale at a wholesale price, the investors will flock to the property and get an auction going.  The key is figuring out what a properties wholesale cost is.

Sometimes bank owned (REO properties) are priced at below market values, and the offers come pouring in. I wrote an offer for a client on a 4-plex last year, and it was a de facto auction situation. We wrote an above asking price offer, but another party offered way above asking price. The bank was able to move the property quickly at market value for investors.

This was a Win/Win for everyone.

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Lessons are Everywhere, If you are Looking!

Interested in being happier and more successful? We can all learn a lesson from an episode of TV’s “Star Trek” that gets in under our radar and teaches us the importance of focusing on the positive.

In one episode of Star Trek the crew lands on a vacation destination planet where they could create any reality they wanted, just by thinking about it. At first the crew has a great time creating wonderful things, but gradually they become bored and tired and begin to focus on negative things, which create negative situations for their reality there. Many of us run our lives the same way, by starting out focusing on the things we want, but then shift our focus to what we don’t want and our lives turns out as badly as the “Star Trek” crew’s in that episode.

So how do you focus on the positive? You need to make a decision to focus on the positive, it doesn’t just happen. As a motivational expert, I stress the importance of having goals to guide your life and “focusing on the positive” should be one of them.

People attending my seminars are surprised when I tell them to announce to the people they are in contact with that you intend to focus on the positive. My personal experience with this is that the reactions you receive to this will run the gamut from total acceptance to almost outright hostility. I advise you not to let the reaction of others to affect your own thoughts and behavior. By announcing to the world that you intend to focus on the positive, you reinforce your decision to be positive by putting yourself on notice and encouraging other people to give you feedback on how you are doing regarding being positive.

Scientific research can help you take full advantage of a positive focus to make decisions. Research shows that we tend to become happier as we move through the day. Our mood is generally lowest when we wake then peaks at noon, then declines till four in the afternoon, and then begins to build to its highest point of the day around 10 PM. So use those peak times to make plans, set goals, tackle hard jobs, etc. Make decisions when you are the most upbeat during the day in order to reduce the negatives in your life from pulling you back.

It also helps to realize that you can only control yourself; you can’t control things like the weather, things that other people do or don’t do, mechanical failures and so on. Focusing only on what you can control takes a lot of pressure off you and leads to greater happiness.

A Business and Life Coach Theresa A Smith, spends time having her clients become very clear about what they want of life and then helping them focus heavily on pursuing the steps needed to attain the life they want. She finds knowing what you want out of life and then working towards it is the number one step her clients can take that gives them long lasting happiness.

Every day we have a choice. We can choose to focus on negative thoughts that leave us feeling insecure, frightened and cynical or we can choose to focus on positive thoughts that empower us and fill us with a sense of optimism about our world and our role in it. What type of thoughts we choose to focus on, grow stronger, and the other type will grow weaker. Make the choice to focus on the positive, and you will find it gets easier the longer you do it.”

“Your focus is your future. You get what you focus on. You can focus on the things that will move you and your projects ahead, or you can focus on things that will not. Focus brings all your power together and enables you to do things in one area that you couldn’t do without it. Picture yourself achieving your goals, and your chances of achieving them go up dramatically. Believe it and you’ll see it.

What you think about on a daily basis is what your future will be like. Tibetan monks believe that if you want to know your future, look at what you’re doing right now. Everything we do now affects what will happen next. Our life’s a chain of now’s and all the things we did in those now’s. Now is what counts and now is what will make your future.”

The two worlds are there for each of us to choose which to live in. Choose the world of your dreams and focus on the positive in your life-it’s as close as your next thought- and before long your dream will be your reality.

I hope everyone finds one nugget of value in this article by MsfinancialSavvy.  It is hard to stay self motivated 24/7 all on your own but being able to draw energy from others around us, does help.  

Have a safe and prosperous weekend.

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75 Years in Real Estate!

  Do you think this veteran has seen his share of changes? It is rare that someone spends this many years in any one industry and especially selling real estate.  I think George has learned the secret to sucess and that in my opinion is he is ‘winning in life.’   I have said the only real wealth we have is life itself  so we must not only spend it wisely but we must also use it up completely, daily!  Don’t waste it and take joy in it.  Treat the people in your personal and business life as if they were the most important asset you have…because they really are!

So here is George’s Advice:

George stills goes to work, 6 days a week.

 Buy a house today if you can, but don’t sell one if you don’t have to, says George W. Johnson, a 97-year-old real-estate agent who has been working the Seattle market since 1936.   Johnson, who is reluctant to call himself America’s oldest real-estate agent — he says he just learned of a 99-year-old broker in Florida — has seen his share of housing booms and busts since he hung his first real-estate shingle 75 years ago.

“I’ve been through a lot of these ups and downs,” he says, remembering the property boom that followed World War II, as well as the deep downturn in the 1970s when Seattle’s biggest employer, Boeing, laid off thousands of workers.

Through it all, Johnson says he has learned many enduring lessons. Chief among them: After every housing recession, the market has “gone higher than the one before.” You have to have the stomach to hang on through all of the twists and turns, he says.

This market is a ‘baby’ compared to days past says Johnson who  wasn’t always a real-estate guy. He was born to a farming family in South Dakota on Dec. 22, 1912, and moved to Seattle at the height of the Great Depression to attend college and pursue a teaching career. To make ends meet, Johnson juggled three jobs at one time. He delivered milk for a while. “Whatever you could do to get by with, you did it.”

Then, in 1936, he started dabbling in real estate. Unemployment hovered around 30%, soup lines stretched around blocks, homelessness was rampant.

“You could have bought the best house in (the Seattle neighborhood of) Ballard for $3,500.” Times were tough. The current real-estate market, Johnson says, is “a baby” by comparison.    “In addition to the Depression, we had the drought at the same period, so it was just compounded. You wouldn’t believe the things that happened during that period.”

 Johnson, a natty dresser who drives himself to work every day — including Saturdays – managed to carve out a niche as a service-oriented agent. When the economy turned at the end of World War II, he opened up his own shop in Ballard, north of downtown. He and his sons have run George Johnson Realty ever since, weathering the ups and downs in the market with confidence that profits are there for the making.

 “I’ve lost a lot of money in a lot of things, but I’ve never lost in real estate,” Johnson says. He remembers selling his first house in the 1930s for about $1,500. “It’s probably worth $300,000 now.”

You can’t thrive in the real-estate industry for this long without learning some useful lessons along the way. Here are some of Johnson’s pearls of wisdom:

• Beware one-company towns: Cities dependent on a single company or industry are more vulnerable to jarring downturns if the economy goes south. The Rust Belt’s old factory towns have made that abundantly clear. The Seattle market turned particularly grim in the late 1960s and early ’70s when Boeing, the aerospace giant, laid off more than 60,000 people in the Seattle area. “Boeing was about the only major company we had other than (the University of Washington),” he recalls. “Now we’ve got a much broader base to help out … it is altogether a different proposition.”

Johnson counsels homebuyers to look beyond real-estate values and investigate an area’s fundamental economy before making a purchase.

• Don’t get greedy. Johnson blames “plain old greed” for the latest real-estate downturn — people got caught up in the enthusiasm of the moment and banks egged them on with cheap loans.  “Everybody was out to buy a house, raise the price, double it and make a quick buck,” he says, shaking his head. “People signed up for stuff that they knew they shouldn’t have and they couldn’t pay (for) and of course the banks helped them.”

Johnson is old-school in that way. At the heart of his real-estate philosophy is his fundamental belief in personal responsibility. “You’ve got to be able to hang onto a house until conditions are such that you can make a little money,” he says, emphasizing that each and every potential homebuyer should make an honest assessment of his or her financial potential and should be wary of offers that seem too good to be true.  “People aren’t as dumb as the media is making them out to be. They knew what they were getting into,” he says.   But he is compassionate for those who have run into honest trouble. “It’s tough on people who lost their jobs and are now losing their homes and that type of thing. It always is,” he says.  Their pain, however, is the buyers’ gain.

• Timing is everything. “In this market, any young person that hasn’t bought a house ought to buy one,” Johnson says. “A buyers market doesn’t come along that often … you just can hardly help but make money on whatever you buy today at the prices they are.” Johnson says rates are only going to go up over the long term, so borrowing will cost more.
• If you don’t have to sell, hang on. Unfortunately, Johnson expects sellers to continue to suffer, at least for now. Buyers, on the other hand, “know it’s a buyer’s market – they are going to come in with offers below what we’ve appraised it at just because they know a lot of people have to sell,” he says.  Despite the continued housing-market struggles, Johnson is confident that the latest downtrend is largely over. “We are headed up,” he says, “but like I said, I think it is going to be slow. It will take a year or two at least.”

 And as the market heads up, Johnson hopes to be there helping his customers buy and sell homes just as he has for most of his life – out of a small, family office dedicated to service with a smile. “We’ve done a good job,” he says of his business. “We’ve been careful and honest and thorough and it’s been good service, and I think that will always produce, no matter what business you’re in.”

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I HAVE THE SECRET TO UNLOCK YOUR INNER SUCCESS

Have you ever watched a hungry dog salivate at the sound of a refrigerator door open or seen how a cat comes running at the sound of the can opener?  I admit it; beads of sweat will break out on my forehead at the mere sight of a hot sauce, before it even reaches my mouth.   This is the concept of conditioned response.  Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1904 for proving he could make a hungry dog drool at the sound of a bell.  The bell rang, the dog got food.  Eventually the bell could ring and the dog would salivate at the sound, anticipating the food which may or may not have appeared.   Pavlov formulated the laws of the conditioned response which he then analogized to people. 

Later in years, using the tape recorder as a tool, many trainers used this same psyche training to instill repetition techniques in their programs.  The theory was in order to program into your mind good habits or reprogram out the bad habits, you need to control your thoughts.  If you begin each morning with affirmations the internal change begins to happen.  It is powerful.  You can change your attitude, your beliefs, your priorities and your subconscious daily choices by changing your daily thoughts and rituals.  

The concept will work if you first make the conscious decision that you WILL make time for what is important.  Yesterday in our leadership meeting someone shared this   “I know I must do such and such but then I get caught up in the got- a- minutes and questions and what I needed to do for ME  gets sidelined.” How true is that for all of us?  We aren’t robots and we aren’t machines, thank goodness…but we do behave as such when it comes to many of our daily rituals.  How many of you have a morning ritual of getting up, having a cup of tea or coffee, maybe you eat breakfast or not, brush your teeth, grab a shower, put on deodorant, comb your hair, etc…  How many of you would think of leaving for work and not brushing your teeth because right in the middle of your ritual the phone rang and got you off track.   You might grab your toothbrush and paste and do it in the car, but you wouldn’t skip it altogether.  Why not? Because you have become conditioned that bad breath and dirty teeth are not attractive or desirable.  I don’t know that you’ve  won a seller over because you had fresh breath and a sparkling smile but I can tell you I have moved on to another salesperson because the one I was talking to had last nights dinner still attached and I couldn’t stand looking at  it.

 I believe that your inner success is just waiting to show itself but you need to ask it come out and shine.  First I don’t believe anyone dumps the 5-9 steady pay check with no ownership interest and says I want to do this so I can fail at being my own business owner.  No, you most likely entered because someone whose opinion you valued said “Barbara, you  like people so you would make a good  real estate agent or you had an experience of you own with the agent from hell and said to yourself, if they can make a living as bad as they are,  then I will make a killing.  No one told you that being an agent entails being a prospector, marketing director, financier, accountant and juggler of family, life and business.  Once we are financially and emotionally invested, we learn the inside truth.  We stink at some of these things and we have never learned to write business plans, follow daily schedules or be held accountable to our actions and results.   The problem is for a lot of us, our beginning began with our past.  In other words, by the time we have reached adulthood and a chosen career, our life experiences all come together and either give us confidence to reach out on the very end of the highest limb on the tree in order to grab the sweetest fruit or it becomes the little voice in the 5 inches between our ears that nag, nag, nag and drain us of our enthusiasm.   Every day of our life we are building up or tearing down our inner success.  We are always practicing behaviors, good or bad.  I do have good news in all this.  Today is the first day of the rest of our life.   Creating a daily life ritual can become a conditioning experience for us. We can achieve our goals and aspirations, our desire can become our reality, we can turn our thoughts into actions and our renewed beliefs can allow us to become exceptional.  Never let any one tell you that if you want something bad enough, the things holding you back are not  fixable.

So what is the ritual you should have cast in stone (besides grooming, eating and getting to work)   I guess that depends on what your big picture for your life and what your business looks like.   Have you taken the time to make your life plan, your 5 year plan, your annual plan, your quarterly plan and or even a daily plan to achieve your big picture?   47 years ago when I said my marriage vows it was for me, making a commitment to a life plan.  I vowed until death do us part to love, cherish and honor.  Big commitment to grasp when you are 17 years old.  It wasn’t long before I realized that it would be the day to day activities that get us through and there was going to be a lot of work, tears and joy along the way.     

When you signed on to make real estate your career, were you considering it to be part of your life plan, a 5 year plan, a year plan, etc. or did you just happen into it willy-nilly without giving it much thought?  If you see the value, write down 10 things that you would be willing to put in concrete as part of your ritual, beginning tomorrow.  If you want it to take it to the next level of accountability, share it with a mentor, significant other, peer or your coach.  I liked what one of our branch managers said yesterday “there are lots of better managers than I but there are not better leaders.”    I liked that.   We all can manage transactions but to elevate to a level of becoming exceptional must speak the language of our people.  I wouldn’t ask of you what I would not be willing to do myself.  My ‘must’ list revolves around a desire to be a better leader and you have my permission to come chat and tell me when I am off track.  

1. I must go the extra mile and I will not be willing to settle for average.”
2.  I must give those I lead, more than they asked for.
3.  I must lead by example: Exhibit fair ethics, good morals and strong values.
4.  I must develop my skills to a higher level of excellence.
5.  I must be willing to help others, unconditionally.
6.  I must be a win-win person. One who fosters in others the belief they are part of a caring team and have the ability to reap the rewards they deserve.
7. I must be the leader of good attitudes, set clear expectations, be tough when called for but be the first to say thank you when deserved.
8.  I cannot be stingy with my time.
9. I must make others feel special because they are.
10. I must articulate that the staff, the agents, my office partner David , our resource partners,  management team and the company’s vision and leadership is why I love to come to work every day.

Finally, so what is the secret?  If you still are looking for one come visit and we can talk some more.   Oh and one more thing, I do believe that one is not completely dressed until they put on their smile for the day.  If you lose your smile during the day, find it and put it back on as fast as possible.  It’s hard to be mad, depressed or abrupt if you are smiling!

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Detail-oriented, task-oriented and outcome-oriented should be part of your real estate vocabulary!

File Audit Tag:  I did a review of the file and found that the property disclosures and lead paint addendum were still missing from the file.  They may have been submitted to the office yesterday, but it appears the file may be out of compliance with state required time limits for supervision of files.  This is a subject that Lee Dunn and I have discussed at length, and requires attention at all levels of our profession.  The Lead Paint addendum is a serious HUD violation as it is a federal requirement.

Agent Response:  This is scaring me a bit. Please let me know what to do and any consequences I may expect?

Broker Explanation:  This is why it’s so important for agents to attend sales meetings and training.  Experienced agents in the branch can tell you the ramifications of required documents not being in the file and having the state give a reprimand.   Not all agents realize their files, listing and sales are randomly pulled by the real estate agency periodically to check for compliance.  When they find things they are concerned about, they ask for at least 3 more of that agents files in order to determine if there is a pattern. 

They first look to see all required docs are in the file and they compare it to the companies checklist along with state and federal required, like agency, seller property disclosures (up to date by the way), lead based paint and wood stoves as an example.  

 Next they look for signatures, initials and dates of both the clients for complete transaction agreement and the agents receipting for the earnest money agreement. 

Then they look for the managing broker’s signature and date to make sure paperwork is being turned in and reviewed per the agency law.   They compare the earnest money promissory note if one is taken with its redemption date and deposit in escrow date and confirmation.  If it’s a failed offer, they want to see a return of earnest money in the file. 

 It’s bad enough if they do a review and find things missing, then most the time it’s just a reprimand, (unless there is  a pattern and/or  it’s to do with failure to handle the clients earnest money properly) but it becomes a licensing issue if heaven forbid there’s a complaint.   Agents don’t realize that even if the complaint is against the other agent, when they pull the file; guess who shows up as well on the file?  You are now also subject to file review in handling your side of the transaction.  The things they can call you out on may or may not have anything to do with the complaint.  

So should you be worried?  Only if you are guilty of any of the above.  What can you do? 

If it’s a closed file, it’s too late.  It is memorialized and it is what it is.   What you can do is make changes today to every client’s deal you handle.   Have a log for each listing and each offer.  Oh and don’t forget those offers you write that never go together…the things required in any offer, minus the signed  all around contract, remains the same.  Agency, earnest money handling, seller’s property disclosure, lead- based paint and wood stove, etc., if they apply, etc.  So what to do?   It’s ez.  Become detail-oriented, task-oriented and outcome-oriented and you won’t have to be worried! Clean up any bad habits regarding paperwork, dates, signatures and turning in the paperwork.  Follow our company checklists, compare them against what is in your file, get signatures and dates on time, turn in to us within 3 days of receipt and watch those deadlines for contingencies.  Your working file should never contain items that are not in our file within 3 days of receipt.

Oh and one final thing.  When there is an investigation by the agency into anyone’s file, the first thing the agency asks is for an attendance record for that agent of sales meetings and trainings.  That is why Margaret keeps a log of attendance of every sales meeting. Attend sales meetings and trainings.  When was the last time you participated?  Sales meetings are for one hour twice a month….that little amount of time is not going to put a kink in your schedule but it might make a huge difference in the states review should you ever have the pleasure.

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How would I know your clients loved you?

Haven’t you had any happy clients?  How would I know?  Where are your testimonials? 

This week I was shopping for a GPS system for a friend’s birthday present.   There are so many brands and models to choose from that it was hard to narrow it down, outside of by price only.  So how did I make my decision?

Well first I went to Google and plugged in GPS.  Then I picked available local as I still am the kind who wants to see and touch before I buy.  Then I asked for reviews and began reading about each brand and then models.  What was interesting was that by doing my review research,  I found a 4.9 rating out of over 400 reviews on a GPS that happened to be an older model and was on sale at Best Buy for $40.00 off the list price.  When I went in to buy it, I said I was surprised at such good reviews for a model that was older…the sales guy said, yes it’s one that has been so well received over the last few years, they just keep putting it out.    It was the online testimonials that caused me to buy their GPS.  

There can be no better advertising than word of mouth and testimonials – your satisfied customers talking good about you and be willing to put it in print for the whole world to read. 

Let’s face it, everyone has a website and internet users often don’t see anything setting one agent apart from another.  Prominently posting your testimonials will be more convincing than anything you can say about yourself.   When engaging with a professional for the first time, it takes confidence in such professional to entrust the transaction, therefore by reading comments on the experience other clients had, new prospects will feel confident in using the services of a Real Estate professional that is accountable for his/her actions. Prospects also know that you will give them the opportunity to complete a survey after their transaction concludes and express their opinion on their experience so that in turn, other prospects can read their comments also.

In addition by soliciting feedback from our clients we are in a great position to learn what is important to them and make adjustments as necessary based on their feedback. It also shows our past clients that their opinion and feedback is important to us and demonstrates that we are always trying to improve our service. We hope that this ability to be open about our services will assist in a sense of comfort for repeat business and referrals of friends and family

Showing in print, handwritten testimonials and survey results is one of our most powerful marketing tools we have and it serves as a validated point of difference to our competitors. Being able to show your track record and satisfaction ratings help establish you as a top-tier professional.”

As a fully dedicated Real Estate professional, I cannot think of a better reward than to read the wonderful comments of appreciation from my clients, can you?

Take a look at your website.  Are your clients there telling others why they should hire you?  If not, start gathering and posting them today.  You never know who will be looking on-line tomorrow.

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The “Bailing” Buyer

There is a local group of agents who are networking on facebook.  The question came up as to whether the recent negative Case-Shiller Index Report had any impact on their clients?   A couple of agents felt their buyers withdrew from sales because they were worried housing prices were still going down.  This made me begin to wonder if these buyers really got that spooked by the report, if they were shaky from the beginning or if they became leerier as the transaction neared closing.

Is one of your current buyers someone who will get cold feet and bail just before closing?  How well do you really know what your buyer is thinking? You educated your buyer on the process, asked their wants and needs, took them out and showed them countless properties; they found the home of their dreams.  Everything is hunky dory..Right?   

99% of time the answer is yes, the deal may have its bumps and challenges but they eventually do close. But what about the other 1% that has a buyer that withdraws.  What are signs to pay attention to? Maybe there is a profile of a buyer we should be more alert to than others, ones that may be prone to “bailing.”

 The investor type is the person who is more focused on the money than the ascetics of the home. They will negotiate over a penny and usually want the last word.  They ask lots of questions as to what your opinion is on future gain. If they switch out the carpet for hardwood, how much will that add to their value?  What is a kitchen remodel worth for future resale.  How long do they need to stay put before they see some return on their investment? Questions that are money related to a future sale are often a clue.

Another buyer that could be prone to bailing is the ‘scared to make a decision’ person. They waffle back and forth over every decision throughout the contract.  They need constant reinforcement that they are doing the right thing.  They often have never bought a home before.  Does your buyer make comments that tell you they are constantly watching the news regarding the market conditions?  Do these newstories worry them?  Do they quote friends or colleagues at work who make comments about this being a bad time to buy?  Do these comments worry them? If you aren’t paying attention to your buyer’s emotional state, you could miss the warning signs that you have a sale with the type of buyer who is subject to getting cold feet?  Did they show hesitancies or have a hard time making the initial decision? 

The last buyer profile is someone who made a past, bad buying decision and paid dearly to get out of it.  Now it’s time to buy again and they are afraid of making the same mistake twice. This client will tell you the whole story and will be looking to you for guidance this time around. They will also be on the look-out for any signs that they are repeating their past mistake.

Of course “Cold Feet” can happen to any buyer in a changing market.  Acknowledge their fear of buying property as it is such a big purchase for them. And also recognize that some people are afraid of change..It’s uncomfortable for them even when its necessary.   You need to make sure you are staying in tune to their feelings and understand where they are coming from.  

So what can you do to help avoid this?  I am sure there are many responses but here are a few I have put together.

1. When the decision has been made to offer on a house, have the buyer write down in their own handwriting 10 things that they love about the house.  If they start wobbling later on you can have them review their own words
2. Have the buyer write down in their own handwriting how they imagine living in the home and why.  Same reason as #1
3. Be sure they have reviewed all the disclosures prior to writing an offer if possible. I have heard buyers say, if I had known ‘that’ I would have began my offer lower.  If that “niggly” happens after price has been agreed upon and signed, this feeling can escalate until they could decide to bail over a minor incident later on.
4. You must understand why they want this move and consistently remind them using a positive tone.
5. Make sure that you are asking the deep question technique when finding out what the buyer is wanting.   Example:  You said you wanted a large fenced yard.  Tell me why your getting a large fenced yard is so important to you? 
6. During the consultation, ask then what their fears and uncertainties are… That way you can help guide them through those fears from beginning to end. Pay attention at all times to their concerns and comments. They may be clues.  Address them as they come up.
7. After agreeing on a price and if they think they ended up paying a little too much, you can reinforce they are going to live in the house for several years.  “In ten years, after living in this home, do you really feel will it matter as much to you if you paid a sliver more than you thought you should have?  This is also the time to remind them of their 10 things they love about the house.
8. Take them back to the amount of time spent shopping and the number of homes they rejected before they selected this house. Remind them of the great loan they are getting and the terms they negotiated, like possessions, warranty, move in date, etc. There are other reasons besides just price to justify a good deal.. and of course remind them that they would have to start the process over again and possibly also lose loan lock and great interest rate and if it’s the case, maybe not have such an agreeable seller next time.
9. Timing the market is not wise. By the time you realize the bottom has been reached, it’s already moving up. The market will eventually shift back to a seller’s market In fact in some neighborhoods and price ranges it’s already began to be harder to find properties that fit your criteria.  It’s like day traders, you don’t hear too much about them anymore do you?
10. Stay in constant communication with your buyers! When they have to seek you out for answers rather then you always being there that might be the start of the downward spiral. 

We work so hard to get our clients on paper; we should work just as hard to keep them there!  Saving an  additional 1% of the deals can make the difference between a good year and a poor year!

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Will I Cut What?

In script practice we have been role playing holding onto your commissions. With sellers in a declining market, they often say things like “if I sell at your recommended price, the only ones coming out is you agents!” 

I do want you to know when I was an active agent, I did cut my commission on occasion.  But in each of these cases, it was because I wanted to.  My rule was I never cut commission unless it’s something I want to do.  I also want to say in tough markets I asked sellers to raise the commissions as well but that’s another blog..

One case was a family who just had their new 2 story home completed when they found the wife had MS and was quickly going to need a one story without stairs. We sold that home without them ever moving in and they bought another.   They truly had a medical crisis on their hands, so I offered to cut my commission on selling the new home-without them asking.

The power is in your hands.  If you truly believe that the people you are serving are in such dire need that a commission cut is the best move to make, then go ahead and do it.  But if you feel pressured to cut your commission just because the seller wants you to, then don’t.  You are a valuable advisor and you deserve to get paid for your hard work.

Also remember some people just have to ask.. that’s ok.  Others you need to dig further and find out why they are asking.  If they say because they need every penny out because they got themselves in a pickle, then  I have to ask back.   

“Was I consulted when you decided to purchase the house at the top of the market, possibly even making an offer that included an escalator clause?” 

“Was I consulted when you opted to purchase a more expensive house than you knew you should, on a no qualifier loan, because a lender said you ‘could?”

“Was I consulted when you decided to borrow your equity to take a vacation, purchase a new car or buy some new electronic devices?”

The financial situation a seller is in on their home is based on decisions they made in the past.  If they must sell in today’s market, it’s a new ballgame.   I can’t be held liable for poor decisions they may have made in the past, but I can and must be truthful about their current situation and try to help them make as good a decision as possible today.

So what do you do when someone asks you to cut your commission?  First of all, don’t recoil in fear.  Say something like, “I’d be happy to talk about that with you.”  Tell me why you are asking?   What happens too often is that when asked to cut commission, an agent will just sit there looking stunned.  When the agent does start to talk, the words come out as babbling nonsense like, well commissions belong to the broker, I have to share with the other agent..etc etc.   

If you are going to hold your commission, your presentation must support your words.  If you say you are a professional you need to show them in the 3 ways people learn. Visual, hearing, and oral words.  Your presentation should speak to how you and the tools your company provide will market their home and draw agents and buyers to see it. Then you show your statistics on your past sucesses.  Days on market, sale price to listing ratio and you back up everything with testimonials and  letters from past clients stating why you are the agent they should list with.

Once you decide that this is not a time to be cutting your commissions, here are a few of the favorite scripts our group came up with.

No.   I am a professional Realtor, and not a part-timer.  This is how I support my family and make my living.  I understand there are some agents without my experience and training who will cut their commission since they have no interest at all in building a long term career.  My fear is that in the end their lack of expertise usually costs the clients more money when they get to the negotiation table. Can you see this could cost you more money in the long run?

In my experience, Realtors who cut commission usually are on the verge of being out of the business and will soon find themselves in another occupation. In fact, most are out of the business within 12 – 24 months as they just don’t earn enough income to support themselves and their business.  I have seen many such agents come and go.  Is this the type of agent you want to entrust the sale of your property to?

So cutting commission should be the first sign to you that you are dealing with the wrong kind of agent… someone who you should not entrust to sell your home.  Their willingness to operate on a cut rate basis may be an indication they don’t spend much money towards their marketing tools, education or networking with the other professionals in the business.  I spend a lot of time and money making sure that you property is exposed to those who we will be soliciting to bring their buyers to see your home.  Can you see how cutting costs is not the way to go when trying to get your home sold.

Sorry but no.  After all, if an agent is willing to give away their own money, how fast will they do so with your money?”  I think you want a strong negotiator who will fight just as strongly for your price and terms.  Would you agree?  Great

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Marketing Strategies: Does Your “People Pleaser” Pattern Get in the Way?

The following article by Dr. Maya Bailey discusses how trying to please others can cost you business.  I’ve seen this pattern in some of my agents and helped them work through it…

By Dr. Maya Bailey

 Do you find yourself avoiding certain types of clients?

Do you find yourself unable to speak the truth to your clients when their expectations of your services are unrealistic or if in real estate their properties are overpriced? If you’re like most entrepreneurs, your “people pleaser” pattern often gets in the way of telling the truth. When you’re not able to tell the truth to your clients, they lose respect for you, and you can end up losing their business.

 This is similar to a client of mine, named Pauline, who was unable to reach her financial goals because she only wanted to work with buyers. When I probed into what was blocking her, she said that she really didn’t like the idea of working with sellers. In fact, her dislike was so great that she actually avoided speaking with sellers. When I asked her why, she said it was because they would be demanding. They wouldn’t price their homes at the right number; they would expect her to spend a lot of money to sell their house; they would really pressure her and create a lot of stress for her.

 I asked her why it was that she gave her power away to these people instead of setting appropriate boundaries. I asked her why she wasn’t able to tell them the truth about the price of their homes. With a little prompting and encouragement, she discovered that she had been suffering from a very strong people pleasing pattern her whole life; it showed up in different areas.

 In this case, it showed up whenever she thought about working with a seller. In her interactions with sellers, she gave her power to them; she let them control the situation; she let them set the price; she didn’t set appropriate boundaries. In fact, she ignored one of Stephen Covey’s basic rules, which is, “It’s either win/win or no deal.” For her, every situation with a seller was they won and she lost.

When we explored her people pleasing pattern a little bit deeper to find about the origins of when that was programmed in her mind, it turned out that it started very early in her life. In fact, as a very young child, her only way of getting any attention was to be a family “people pleaser.”

 I pointed out to her that that was probably a good strategy at the time, but like a program that you put into your computer, unless you change the program, it will just keep going on and on forever. I asked her if she would finally like to change that old “people pleaser” pattern, and she agreed.

 Coming back to her current age, she realized that if she kept on being a “people pleaser,” she would not be able to fulfill her potential, she would not make the money she needed, and she would constantly be stressed out. I asked her if those consequences were acceptable to her, and she adamantly said, “No.”

 With a very short technique, I introduced her to the idea of releasing her “people pleaser” pattern once and for all. When she did that, she felt much lighter. And then I asked her to come up with a list of empowered beliefs, and she created this list: “I just need to please myself, and no one else.” “I don’t need people to like me; I just need people to respect me.” “It’s either win/win or no deal.” “The only person’s approval I need is my own.”

 Those new empowered beliefs allowed her to take her power back. It gave her the ability to tell the truth. My general comment to all entrepreneurs today is that above all, be honest. When you’re working with a prospective client be sure to manage their expectations as clearly as possible. If what they want is unrealistic, be honest about it and come up with a solution that is good for both of you.

If they insist on being unrealistic, or demanding things that you cannot provide for them, do not work with them; you would only be engaging in an interaction in which they would win and you would lose.

 Keep in mind Stephen Covey’s famous principle from his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People; it’s either win/win or no deal. Trust your gut; you’ll know if it’s not a win for you. Your job is to let it go and trust that you’re making room for a wonderful, new, ideal client.

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